Russia Resumes Strikes on Freezing Ukrainian Capital

A local resident clears up debris from his broken balcony after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
A local resident clears up debris from his broken balcony after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
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Russia Resumes Strikes on Freezing Ukrainian Capital

A local resident clears up debris from his broken balcony after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
A local resident clears up debris from his broken balcony after a Russian attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Russia resumed strikes on Kyiv on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said, as a brief truce announced by US President Donald Trump gave way to renewed attacks in freezing conditions.

Trump said on Thursday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to stop striking Kyiv and "various towns" during cold weather.

The Kremlin said the truce would last until Sunday but did not link it to the subzero temperatures. Ukraine said Moscow had kept up its strikes anyway.

Russia hit Kyiv "in the bitter cold with another massive strike" overnight, Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the city's military administration, said Tuesday on Telegram.

The emergency services said in a later post that three people in Kyiv had been wounded, reported AFP.

In the eastern city of Kharkiv, two people were wounded by Russian shelling, regional military chief Oleg Synegubov said.

The hours-long attack targeted energy infrastructure and aimed to "cause maximum destruction... and leave the city without heat during severe frost", Synegubov wrote on Telegram.

Authorities had to cut heating to more than 800 homes to prevent the wider network from freezing, he said, urging people to go to round-the-clock "invincibility points" around the city if they needed to warm up.

Overnight temperatures plunged to minus 17C in Kyiv and sank as low as minus 23C in Kharkiv.

- New talks planned -

Russia's invasion of Ukraine will hit the four-year mark on February 24.

Washington has sought to craft a peace settlement between both sides, but the first round of trilateral talks held in Abu Dhabi last weekend failed to yield a breakthrough.

A second round is due to begin on Wednesday in the Emirati capital.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that recent "de-escalation" with Russia was helping build trust in negotiations, apparently referring to a break in attacks on energy facilities.

But territory remains a sticking point, and the warring sides have not yet shown willingness for compromise.

Russia wants full control of Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, which Kyiv has ruled out, saying such a move would only embolden Moscow.

After failing in its aim of a lightning offensive to capture Kyiv and topple Ukraine's leadership in a matter of days in 2022, Russia has been bogged down in the face of Ukrainian defenses and is now mounting a grinding advance that has come at huge human cost.

Moscow's troops accelerated their advance in Ukraine throughout January, capturing almost twice as much land as in the previous month, according to an AFP analysis.

Russia seized 481 square kilometers (186 square miles) in January, analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War, which works with the Critical Threats Project, showed.

The January gains were up from 244 square kilometers in December 2025 and one of the largest advances during a winter month since Russia invaded four years ago.



Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
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Mojtaba Khamenei Says Closure of Strait of Hormuz Should be Used as 'Leverage'

(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)
(FILES) In this picture obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, Mojtaba Khamenei (C), son of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, walks along a street in Tehran on May 31, 2019. (Photo by Hamid FOROUTAN / ISNA / AFP)

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement on the war on Thursday, saying that the leverage of closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used.

Khamenei called on people in Gulf countries to “shut down” US bases, saying promised US protection is “nothing more than a lie.”

Khamenei did not appear on camera. Israeli intelligence assessed that he was likely wounded in the war’s opening salvo, which he said also killed his wife, one of his sisters, his niece and his father, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

US President Donald Trump has promised to “finish the job,” even as Iran is “virtually destroyed.” The first week of the war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon.

“One point I must emphasize is that, in any case, we will obtain compensation from the enemy,” Khamenei said.

“If it refuses, we will take from its assets to the extent we deem appropriate, and if that is not possible, we will destroy its assets to the same extent.”

 

 

 

 


Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
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Russia Condemns Trump Comments on 'Takeover' of Cuba

US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)
US President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin, Aug. 15, 2025, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, File)

Russia condemned on Thursday what it called blackmail and threats by US President Donald Trump to initiate a "takeover" of Cuba, a traditional ally of Moscow.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow would provide all possible political and diplomatic support to Cuba and called for a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Washington, Reuters reported.

Trump said on Monday that Cuba was in "deep trouble" and that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio was dealing with the issue, which may or may not be a "friendly takeover."


Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
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Trump Says Stopping a Nuclear Iran More Important than Oil Prices

US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026.  REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President Donald Trump talks to the media upon his arrival at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, March 11, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons was more important to him than controlling oil prices, Reuters reported.

"The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money. BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World," said Trump in a post on his Truth Social platform.